When we see records being broken and unprecedented events such as this, the onus is on those who deny any connection to climate change to prove their case. Global warming has fundamentally altered the background conditions that give rise to all weather. In the strictest sense, all weather is now connected to climate change. Kevin Trenberth

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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Patrick Michaels, noted tool of billionaire Koch brothers, David and Charles, lied to Congress about his funding, receives 40% from fossil fuel interests ($1.68 million per year)

Climate sceptic 'misled Congress over funding from oil industry'

Patrick Michaels, fellow at the Cato Institute, claimed 3% of his funding came from industry, later revealed that figure to be 40%

by Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian, January 25, 2011

Patrick Michaels is a climate change sceptic and senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank founded by Charles and David Koch, oil industry billionaires who also bankroll conservative Tea Party organisations. Photograph: clp.org.br

A leading climate sceptic patronised by the oil billionaire Koch brothers faced a potential investigation today on charges that he misled Congress on the extent of his funding from the oil industry.

Now, Waxman writes in a letter to the incoming committee chair, Fred Upton, it appears as if Michaels may have misled the committee. In 2009, Michaels said 3% of his $4.2m in financial support came from the oil and gas industry. But in an appearance on CNN in August last year, and in subsequent interviews, Michaels suggested that figure was 40%.

"Michaels may have provided misleading information about the sources of his funding and his ties to industries opposed to regulation of emissions responsible for climate change," Waxman writes in the letter, released on Monday.

Waxman urged Upton to call on Michaels to clarify the sources of his funding, and to give a complete account of his funding sources to the committee.

Michaels has also received direct funding from the Koch brothers. From their base in Wichita, Kansas, the Kochs control the largest privately held oil company in the US. They gained notoriety during the mid-term elections for bankrolling a leading, conservative Tea Party organisation, Americans for Prosperity.

But the Kochs have for years been funnelling money to organisations which oppose government regulations and deny the existence of climate change.